If your horse lover is a young girl, think of children’s books, t-shirts or clothing with cute horse cartoons on it, posters, model horses, video games with horses and even Barbie horses.   If your horse lover is a teen you’ll want to find things that have small horse touches on them like earrings, necklaces  or other jewelry.  Accessories with a horse theme are always popular with teens, especially purses, backpacks, watches and other similar items.  Teens love to wear hoodies and will likely love a cartoon on it that tells the world about their equestrian obsession!

If your horse fan is more mature, you can consider horse themed gifts for the home such as furniture, lamps, writing and desk supplies, clocks, jewelry boxes, book ends, and statues.  Even a beautiful coffee-table book with photos of horses would be well received.

If your horse lover is fortunate enough to actually own a horse, then there is always the thought of finding a new piece of equipment or item that can be used for the horse itself. Something like grooming supplies, a beautiful halter or lead with an engraved name plate all make nice gifts for people who like horses.  Books with how-to techniques on braiding might be fun to use too.

Whatever the case, there is lots to choose from and it certainly helps when the person on the receiving end has a theme like horses!

Our farm was always a flurry of friends and fun. I have so many wonderful childhood memories from my life on the farm and at the stable that I want to relive and share those memories with you.

I hope that your pony dreams will come true too.

Here is a simple easy horse head that you can draw.  It’s simple  and very easy, and if you practice it, you can draw  in just a few seconds!

I used to love to draw this little cartoon under my signature  in all my friends’ yearbooks at school when we signed our names in them. My friends still remember that I was the “horse crazy” girl.

I have included a video here and at the bottom so you can watch me actually draw the horse head step by step.

First, you just draw a straight line for the forehead and face. Start at about the middle of where you want the horse drawing to end up, and draw down to the left.

2. Next, draw the horse’s muzzle and chin by making an arc down to the right.

3. The jaw is just an easy short line.

4. Draw an almost half circle for the cheek. Notice that the start of the cheek is almost exactly below the starting point above it on the forehead. This is important if you want to keep your proportions correct.

5. Now you are ready for the ears.Draw the first one in two strokes like this

6. Then do the other ear peeking out from behind the first ear. Not all of it will be showing.

7. Add a few strokes for the forelock

8. Now you’re ready for the horse eye, nostril and mouth.I like to draw a more cartoon looking mouth so that I can show expression. You may prefer to draw a more realistic one that is not “smiling”. In that case, just use a simple straight or slightly curved line for the mouth.

9. Next, Draw the crest of the neck. Make a long sweeping arc.

10. Then add the throat latch

11. Finish with a wispy mane. You could also make the mane flowing away from the neck by pointing it upward as if the horse were running, or in a breeze.There! Wasn’t that easy?! Now watch the video below that shows me actually drawing this horse.

Now check out the video to see me actually drawing this horse head:

Fantastic!  That was super easy.  Have fun drawing this horse head.   Please visit my youtube channel for other fun activities!  http://www.youtube.com/momsminivan

Click each picture to print the word search:

Also, for more horse activities be sure to look for my printable horse pictures to use as coloring pages, and my lessons on “How to draw a horse head“.  Enjoy!

Kids, especially girls, love to color horse coloring pages. These are great for all kinds of horse lovers. Teachers and day care providers may also enjoy using these with their students. Pony Club and Four-H groups may also find them very useful to print and use with their organizations as well.

Click each image to print it:

Please let me know if you enjoy these printable horse pictures, or if you have an problems in the comment section below.  Enjoy!

For more horse coloring pages, Check out these Great Horse Coloring books that are available at Amazon:

It makes a great gift for a girl who loves horses and it will keep her busy for hours.  It’s full of   Games & Puzzles for Kids: 102 Brainteasers, Word Games, Jokes & Riddles, Picture Puzzlers, Matches & Logic Tests for Horse-Loving Kids.

Check out this book on  Horse Games and Puzzles!

OK, now while you’re at it, there is  one more book that horse-crazy girls can’t live without. It’s actually called, “For Horse-Crazy Girls Only: Everything You Want to Know About Horses”

Sometimes it’s hard to find enough material written about horses, especially fiction.  If you have a horse-crazy girl in your life, or if YOU are that horse-crazy girl, then I have some great books to share with you.  Here is a list of horse fiction that I guarantee any  horse-lover will enjoy.

You can start by browsing Amazon for Horse Fiction, or check out my list of faves below. It includes old classics, as well as some newer titles.

• Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
• The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
• The Island Stallion by Walter Farley
• My Friend Flicka Mary O’Hara
• Misty Of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
• Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, by Kathleen Duey
• The Black Stallion Returns, by Walter Farley
• National Velvet,
• Riding Lessons, by Sara Gruen
• Flying Changes, by Sara Gruen
• Year of the Horse, by Eric Hatch
• Stealing A Girl, by S.L. Seymour
• Horsepower, by Patsey Gray
• For Love of a Horse, by Patricia Leitch

Laurel and Ginger, circa 1974  — photo is  copyright Happinessisahorse.com — All rights reserved

A Pony of Her Own: A short story about girls and horses by Laurel M. Smith

Ch. 1 – Riding Lessons

Nine year old Libby James had brown hair and freckles on her nose.  Her long
legs were perfect for her favorite thing — horseback riding.  Like most girls her
age, she loved horses more than anything in the world.  She read books about
horses, drew pictures of horses, collected toy horses, and even pretended to
be a horse sometimes.  She dreamed of one day having a horse or pony of her
very own.  But until that day came, she would have to be content with the school
horses during her riding classes at Spring Park Stables.

There were six riders in the class: Libby, her best friend Lauren, Amy, Christy,
Monica, and Jason who was Libby’s younger brother. They were learning
English style riding.

Libby was riding Cracker-Jack today.  He was a tall chestnut colored
Standard-Bred horse with a broad white blaze down his face.  He had a steady
gait but was a bit on the lazy side.  Libby gently squeezed Cracker-Jack’s sides
with her legs to get him moving a little faster just as she had been taught.  She
was falling behind the others and wanted to catch up.

“Keep those heels down, Jason!” said their riding instructor, Miss Lee.  “And
watch that your hands don’t get too high.

“Your posture is looking great, Libby.  There is such a nice visual line from your
shoulders down through your hips and all the way to your heels. If you had your
own pony, I’d say you were ready for the next riding level in Pony Club.”  Her
compliments made Libby feel good.

The Pony Club was a lot like her Girl Scout Troop except that Pony Club
members had to own or lease their own horse or pony, and all the activities in
the club were related to horseback riding.  They took riding lessons together,
learned how to train their own horses and ponies, and attended riding
competitions.  In the summer, they went to Pony Club camp with their ponies,
and in the winter, they participated in a Knowledge Bowl.  The Knowledge Bowl
was like a spelling bee, except that instead of spelling, all the questions were
about riding and caring for horses or ponies.

A rating system was used to group Pony club members with other kids of their
same riding ability for competitions and instruction.

Miss Lee’s compliments about being in the next riding level were nice, but Pony
Club was just a far away dream for Libby without a horse or pony of her own.

Miss Lee now wanted her class to take their horses through the pole obstacle.
She had laid out six poles on the ground and evenly spaced them.  The riders
were to trot the horses through them taking only one step between each pole.  It
was a fun exercise because the horses always went with a little more spring in
their step through the poles.  Christy went first followed by Amy.  They went
through one by one.  Then it was Libby’s turn.  Cracker-Jack was being lazy as
usual.  Libby had to really work just to get him to trot, but he finally took the poles
easily with his long stride.

It was great fun learning how to ride during her lessons every Saturday, but she
had to ride different horses all the time.  Some of them were easy and others
more difficult.  It was hard to get used to riding any one in only an-hour lesson
each week.  “It’s all part of becoming a good rider,” Miss Lee once told her.

Most of the lesson horses were big.  Many of the lesson horses were also for
sale.  Their owners made them available for lessons so that lots of different
people could try them.  Miss Lee was very good at finding a perfect match for
each horse that was for sale.

Occasionally, a smaller pony was available for lessons, but not very often.  Libby
loved ponies.  In fact, she adored them.  They were much more her size.  She
was definitely a pony person.

“Keep your chin up, Lauren!” said Miss Lee as the riders trotted around the
lesson paddock on their mounts.  “Let’s try a slow canter to the right now,
everyone!”

They all gathered up their reins a little and urged their horses forward into a nice
canter or a very slow gallop.  Libby had a little trouble convincing Cracker-Jack
to get moving again, but eventually he agreed and was cantering along with the
rest.

“Let’s all pull up to a halt now, and show me how well you can back up your
horses!  Very nice.  Now, one more canter, but in the other direction this time.”

The lesson was almost over.  Libby would have to wait until next week before
she got to ride again.  “If I had my own pony…..I could ride every day for as long
as I like!” she thought to herself.

Her friend Lauren was really lucky.  Her parents had promised to buy her a
horse or pony by the end of the summer if she became a good enough rider.
Lauren was spending the summer trying out the different horses at each lesson
to decide which one she liked the best. Although Lauren was her best friend,
Libby couldn’t help feeling a little jealous.

Libby had been taking riding lessons at the stable all summer and was
becoming quite good.  “I’ll become the best rider I can be,” she promised
herself.  “Then maybe someday I’ll have my own horse or pony, and I’ll be able to
ride everyday like Lauren will.  Maybe I’ll even join the Pony Club too.”

…. She just kept dreaming.

go to Ch. 2 — Runaway

photo courtesy USDA

A Pony of Her Own: A short story about girls and horses by Laurel M. Smith

Ch. 2 – Runaway

The riders began to canter around the ring as they had been instructed.  Libby
squeezed Cracker-Jack hard and even nudged him with her heels a little.
Cracker-Jack must have been daydreaming about munching on that green
grass on the other side of the fence.

Libby’s brother Jason had not been riding as long as Libby and was still a little
nervous, especially around such big horses.  He was riding McCloud for today’s
lesson.

McCloud was a smaller gray horse.  He was mostly white, but he had little black
flecks of color scattered throughout his coat.  He carried his head high and
champed at the bit nervously.  McCloud trotted anxiously along the fence feeling
a little unsure of his rider.  A horse can sense a lot from his rider, and Jason’s
nervousness was having a big effect on McCloud.

As Cracker-Jack caught up to the other horses, he and Libby cantered past
Monica on her lesson horse, Lady.  Lady was a beautiful buckskin colored
mare. She had a bright golden color with a dark black mane, tail, legs, nose and
tips of her ears.  She was one of the prettiest horses at the stable.  She was
much smaller than Cracker-Jack, but she didn’t quite look small enough to be
called a pony, at least to Libby, anyway.
Not wanting to be the last one in the line, Monica kicked Lady hard in the ribs,
and she lunged forward.  Her nose bumped into the back end of McCloud who
just in front of her.

McCloud went into a tizzy.  He bolted for the gate, turned the corner, scraping
Jason’s leg against the post and began to gallop through the woods.  He
dodged trees left and right with Jason holding on tight.
Miss Lee galloped after him on her own horse, Dixie.  McCloud was a runaway,
and Jason could be in trouble.   “Hang on, Jason!” cried Miss Lee.  “Try to pull
his head around into a tight circle!” she shouted.  Jason tried, but he was just
too scared to move.  If he tried to turn him in a circle to stop the runaway, he
risked crashing into a tree.

Instead he held on to McCloud’s mane with his fists tight and his eyes closed
while they galloped through the woods and out of sight in the direction of the
main barn with Miss Lee close behind.

Jason lost his grip and dropped the rein from his left hand.  “Grab the reins,
Jason!” Miss Lee shouted.  “Show him that you’re the boss!”
Jason didn’t care who was the boss.  At this point, McCloud was the boss.  He
only wanted to get off that horse without too many broken bones.  McCloud’s
speed increased to a full gallop.  He was headed through the woods, but had
not stayed on the trail.  The brush was high and Jason ducked his head under
the low tree branches as they whizzed by them.

A large log lay on the ground ahead of him.  McCloud saw it and jumped.  Jason
held on for dear life.  He had only one rein and one stirrup as his seat left the
saddle.  It would have taken a miracle for him land square in the saddle again.
He landed all right, but not in the saddle at all.

He was now sitting just in front of the saddle on McCloud’s withers clinging
desperately to his neck.  McCloud grew even more panicked at his rider’s new
position of having both arms and legs wrapped around his neck.  He threw his
head up and down trying to shake him off.  It was as if Jason were having a
bronco ride!

McCloud rounded the bend into the barnyard area and came to a sudden halt
right in front of the main barn.  McCloud lowered his head and Jason fell to the
ground in a heap.  McCloud snorted his nostril and looked at him.

Miss Lee rode up beside him and jumped down off her horse.  “Are you all
right?”

“I’m fine,” Jason replied with his heart pounding.  “Just a little shaken, that’s all.”

“That was quite a ride!  I’ll give you a minute to catch your breath, but then it’s
important that you get right back on that horse and finish the lesson.  You’ll be
glad you did.”

Although still shaken, Jason agreed.

go to Ch. 3 — The Creek

photo courtesy USDA

A Pony of Her Own: A short story about girls and horses by Laurel M. Smith

Ch. 3 – The Creek

Libby and the other students weren’t sure what they should do.  They waited for
a little while in the paddock, and then Monica said, “Let’s go back to the barn
and see if Miss Lee caught up with Jason.”

“I’m not sure we should leave the paddock until Miss Lee comes back,” said
Libby, “Maybe we should just wait here.”

“We’ll be here all day waiting for her to come back, “shouted Monica
impatiently.  “I’m not wasting good riding time just sitting here.  Let’s go.”
Reluctantly, Libby and the others followed.

“Monica, I don’t think this is the right way back to the stable,” Libby said
nervously as they headed down a steep slope on the trail.  “I think the Main Barn
was to the left on that fork in the trail back there.”

“Be quiet, Libby!  I know what I’m doing.  I’m not going back to the barn just yet.
This is a shortcut across the creek.  There’s a big field on the other side that I
want to gallop across.  If my horse, Lady, can run as fast as I think she can, then
I’m going to ask my parents to buy her for me.  I saw her picture on the For Sale
bulletin board in the Main Barn.”

Libby often gazed at that very bulletin board wishing for a pony of her own.

“But don’t you think we should wait for Miss Lee?” asked Lauren.  “I really don’t
think she wanted us to leave the paddock area.”

“Now you too?” Monica scowled.  “What is with you guys?  Are you scared?
Why don’t you just go back to the paddock?  I can do this myself,” she growled.
“This is my only chance to see if this horse is as fast as I think she is.”

“Miss Lee would never allow you to gallop a horse full-out during a lesson,” said
Amy.  “It’s too dangerous.  That’s why she had to go after Jason’s horse when it
took off.”

“I hope he’s OK,” thought Libby wishing that her teacher would come back soon.

We really shouldn’t let her cross that creek alone,” said Christy.  We had better
stay and make sure she crosses the creek safely and then go tell Miss Lee what
happened.”

“Oh, why won’t she just follow the rules like the rest of us?”  Lauren groaned.

The girls followed Monica down the steep banks of the creek bed and watched
as she trotted Lady through the water and up the other side.

“I don’t like this,” said Libby, “What she’s doing is very dangerous.  I’m going to
tell her she’d better come back to the paddock with us right now.”  Libby nudged
Cracker-Jack in the sides to cross the creek.  But, lazy Cracker-Jack had no
intention of getting his feet wet and reared up at the edge of the water tossing
Libby to the ground.  Mud splattered all over her white T-shirt like the freckles on
her face.

“Quick! Grab him before he runs off!” shouted Libby to her friends.
“Too late,” cried Amy.  Cracker-Jack trotted up the riverbank and was headed
back to the paddock area where he had seen the patch of thick green grass.

“So sorry about that, Libby!” laughed Monica sarcastically from across the
creek.  Then she took off for the open field.

Libby was starting to understand how her brother Jason felt around these big
horses and wasn’t so sure she wanted to ride stubborn old Cracker-Jack
anymore.  She got up and washed the mud off her hands in the creek water.
She headed up the bank and began walking in the direction of the paddock with
the other girls following on their horses.

Jason and Miss Lee had just arrived back at the paddock to find Cracker-Jack
waiting there.  Tony, the hired stable hand, was with them to help Jason get his
confidence back by leading McCloud on a lead line for a little while.

Libby hated to disappoint her teacher, but when she and the others explained
what happened, Miss Lee was sympathetic.  “You must get right back on that
horse, Libby, just like Jason did.”  She explained, “Whenever you fall off your
mount, you must get right back on to prove to yourself that you can do it and that
you haven’t lost your nerve.”  Libby hesitantly agreed and mounted up old
Cracker-Jack again for one last trot around the paddock.

“Now that everyone is back on board, I’m afraid I must cut this lesson a few
minutes short,” said Miss Lee.  “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one
lesson, and I must go find out what Monica has done with our horse.  Tony will
take you all back to the Main Barn and help you untack your horses and show
you where to put the saddles and bridles.”

Miss Lee took Libby aside for a moment and said, “Libby, I want to talk to you
before you leave today, so please wait in the office until I get back.”

Libby gulped with dread.  Was she going to be in trouble for trying to cross the
creek with Cracker-Jack after Monica?

After she unsaddled Cracker-Jack, Libby waited nervously in the office at the
Main Barn.  She gazed at the For Sale bulletin board hanging on the wall.  She
saw Lady’s picture on it with a phone number to call for people who were
interested in buying the horse.  There were lots of horses for sale on that bulletin
board.  Some of the signs had been up quite a while and the corners of the
pictures were starting to curl.

She noticed small index card that must have been placed on the bulletin board
recently because it wasn’t faded and covered with dust.  It read “FOR SALE:
Chestnut colored Welsh pony mare named ‘Ginger Snap’; 12.2 hands tall, 6
years old, needs good home.”  There was a small color photo of the pony
attached.

Libby began daydreaming again.  She loved little ponies so much.  Her birthday
was only two weeks away.  Could she dare hope for a real pony?  When she
had mentioned it before, her father said that ponies were too expensive and too
much responsibility for a nine year old.  She frowned as she recalled the
conversation.

She thought of how lucky Lauren was that her parents were going to buy her a
horse by the end of the summer.  She felt angry that Monica might even get a
horse when she couldn’t even follow the rules during a riding lesson.

If only she had a pony, a pony that wasn’t so big with such a long way down to
the ground when you fall off.  If she had her own pony that she loved and trusted,
then she would know what to expect and she might not have been thrown at the
creek today when she tried to cross it.  “If only,” she muttered to herself, “If only.”

go to Ch. 4 — Big Trouble?